The Greenville times., 1887-06-18
PROFESSOR CULLF'S ADDRESS.

May 10th, 1887:
Mr.. President. and Gentlemen of the
Convention:
My actual knowledge ofthe con-
dtiion of things In the Yazoo Delta
is derived from correspondence,
reading, personal inquiries, and
two brief visits to this portion Of
the State; consequently / mey not
be able to present much. that will
be of interest to the meeting.
The business of farming and
planting is governed however, BY
certain general principles, the
county over, and to those general
principles / will for a short time
take the liberty of calling your at
tention.
Glancing over the broad fields
of labor at this present time, we
notice LIST, that the industries are
tending to speeialtIes, and to the
consolidation of capital in nearly
all enterprises; End, that all pro-
ducts, raw and manufactured, are
gradually cheapening in money
value 3rd, that labor, if I'VE except
the lower class of unskilled work
men, is not cheapening in money
value 4th, in agriculture, fertility
of the soil on lands that do not re-
quire large expenditures to fit
them for cultivation, is being ex.
hausted and future productlveness
must be kept up by some system
of fertilization. Referring to our
first heading, the tendencies to
specialties is the result of having
discovered that one man, or a
body of men, can be more easily
trained and can accomplish more
work in one line than they can
when spread over several lines.
Our second heading represents
simply the outcome of the first.
The trained special expert in any
line of work, mental as well as
physical, can produce more in a
given time, yes very much more
than the non.special and conse
quently less expert workman turn.
ing out, therefore. q large product
at less expense and it follows that
competition to make sales reduces
the price. Were it not for the fact
that decrease in price increases
consumption in some form, we
would have stagnation in oil indus
tries.
II this natural readjustment in
the several industries, / refer to
the increased production, increas-
ing consumption and decreasing
cost and selling value, affected all
| industries alike, no harm would
result and the laborer whose
wages, as / have remarked, are
nearly stationary, would be bene'
fitted, for the reason that his wages
judiciously expended would en-
able him to indulge to a greater
extent in the necessaries and
luxurles of life. Unfortunately
however, for the average farmer
the rule that holds good in other
| industries, does not apply to his
work. The selling price of the
planters and farmers products has
followed the general law ofshrink
age, the cost of labor remains the
same, but the product per laborel
has not generally increased.
There is passage in Scriptures
which says ''that to him who haiti
shall be given, but to HIM who
hath not shall be taken even thai
which he hath.r The latter par
applies to q large number of oul
farmers at this present time. Ii
addition to having to sell his pro
duct at a constantly decreasing
price, cost Of labor remaining thu
same, the farmer must from nov
on resort to expensive fertiliza
tion on the old lands to grow ever
average crops, or he must at large
cost bring In new areas that here
tofore have not been considered
worth the expenditure.
To recapitulate the selling price
Of all commodities is sinking
wages are nearly stationary, in
creasing rather than decreasing
and the production per workman
is increasing in all lines ofindustr,
owing to better supervision, grow
ing skill, improved machinery, ant
substitution ofmachlnery for men
except in the growing of crops
We will not include all the tiller
of the soil for q considerable por
tion of our farmers, the wheat, ha.
and corn growers in some section
OF the country have learned hov
| to produce more crop per man
but in the Gull States to-day tn
average farm laborer produce
practically no more cotton, corn
or other crop than the averag
laborer did ten, fifteen, twenty-five
or thirty years ago.
The above is a statement 0
facts as they exist, and they ar
due to the working out of natura
laws. We must make up on
minds therefore to adjust our worl
to conform to these laws as W
can't change them IT'S said 9Th
mills of the gods grind slow, bu
they grind exceedingly fine,' an
1t behooves us to keep out fror
between the stones.
Some of our modern politics
; economists have proposed redr
cling acreage Of of crop, in cotto
: for instance, to hold up the price
On a par with this idea is th
scheme of our friends, the Knight
of Labor, which proposes to max
wages uniform for one class c
labor regardless of individual ski
and ambition to rise in the calling
81 r.